Old Princes Highway, South Australia
Old Princes Highway | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Road |
| Major junctions | |
| West end |  Mount Barker RoadMount Barker, South Australia |
| East end |  Karoonda HighwayMurray Bridge, South Australia |
| Location(s) | |
| Major suburbs | Nairne, Kanmantoo, Callington, Monarto South |
The Old Princes Highway is a 41.1-kilometre-long (25.5 mi)[1] state-controlled highway in South Australia linking the towns of Nairne, Kanmantoo, Callington, Monarto South and Murray Bridge.[2] It follows the previous alignment of the Princes Highway which used to run through these towns but was subsumed into the South Eastern Freeway, but it remains classified as a state road.[3]
History
[edit]The first section of the Princes Highway opened as early as February 1922 via Mount Barker Road [4] and was later realigned to run further along Mount Barker Road through Mount Barker, and along Wellington Road via Wistow and Woodchester to Langhorne Creek,[5] although by 1935 this alignment was changed to run via Nairne, Kanmantoo, Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend (along what is now known as the Old Princes Highway).[6]
The Princes Highway functioned as Adelaide's major south-eastern approach and was heavily trafficked; government plans to upgrade this route weaving through the Adelaide Hills had begun by the early 1960s. Initial sections of the road project that eventually became the South Eastern Freeway commenced in December 1965, along a 2 km section from Measday's Hill to Stirling: the eastbound carriageway was opened to traffic in 1967, and the section was fully completed in 1969 when the remaining carriageway and the Crafers Interchange became fully operational. The next stage extended the freeway east through Bridgewater to Verdun and opened in 1972, and from Verdun to Mount Barker in 1974, completely replacing Princes Highway – renamed back to Mount Barker Road – as the main route between Mount Barker and Crafers. As this was part of Highway 1, the route was progressively re-aligned along the freeway as sections of it opened. The section from Stirling to Mount Barker was later classified as Mount Barker Road, and the Littlehampton to Murray Bridge section became known as the Old Princes Highway.
References
[edit]
- ^ "Old Princes Highway, South Australia" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ "A Functional Hierarchy for South Australia's Land Transport Network" (PDF). Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
- ^ Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (22 December 2010). Rack Plan 868: Naming of State Rural Roads – Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula (PDF) (Map). Government of South Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
- ^ "THE PRINCE'S HIGHWAY". The Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 10 February 1922. p. 6. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
- ^ "SOUTH-EASTERN DISTRICT COUNCILS' ASSOCIATION". The Narracoorte Herald. SA: National Library of Australia. 28 August 1928. p. 4. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ "519 Men Engaged On Road Work". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 20 June 1935. p. 10. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
